Anheuser-Busch and Keurig Green Mountain will develop an in-home drinks machine for making alcoholic drinks, as part of a new joint venture.
The collaboration, which will bring together the expertise of both companies, will build on the Keurig Kold technology and AB’s brewing and packaging expertise.
Keurig Kold was Keurig Green Mountain’s short-lived home drinks carbonator, which the company cancelled last summer just nine months after launch. With tie-ins with brands from The Coca-Cola Company and Dr Pepper Snapple, Keurig had invested $1 billion developing Kold and was hoping that the $370 machine would give it new space for growth beyond its core coffee business.
But poor reception to its size, speed, noise and price point were all harbingers to its eventual demise.
This new partnership between AB and Keurig, focusing on North America, will seek to create opportunities for the two companies in the ‘adult beverage category’ – including the beer, spirits, cocktails and mixers categories.
It is believed that any final product would use one-cup dispensers like those used in Keurig’s coffee machines, or soft drinks carbonators like SodaStream, to craft brew-at-home alcoholic beverages – though few specific details into the joint venture were given by either Keurig Green Mountain or Anheuser-Busch.
Newly formed with SABMiller, AB has a wealth of alcohol brands to draw from – including Stella Artois, Budweiser and Becks.
Anheuser-Busch global vice-president innovation and development Nathaniel Davis, who will be the CEO of the new business unit, said: “We’re thrilled to be moving forward with this joint venture and look forward to working closely with the Keurig Green Mountain team to explore the possibilities of what we can achieve together.”
And Keurig Green Mountain CEO Bob Gamgort added: “We are excited to partner with AB InBev to develop a new system for the adult beverage category. We look forward to combining our capabilities and technologies to deliver innovation for consumers.”
The joint venture employees will come from the current Anheuser-Busch and Keurig teams, and will be located in facilities in Massachusetts and Vermont.
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